The Bulldog is remarkable for the undaunted and savage pertinacity with which he will provoke and continue a combat with other animals, and when once he has fixed his bite, it is not without extreme difficulty that he can be disengaged from his antagonist. He is oftentimes fierce and cruel, and seems to possess very little of the generosity and disposition so remarkable and so celebrated in dog species. He frequently makes his attack without giving the least previous warning, and often without that discrimination of persons or animals which we observe in most other dogs.
Memoirs of British Quadrupeds, Rev. W. Bingley, 1809.
The Bulldog. A Monograph, third edition, Edgar Farman
Sunday, June 17, 2012
"Canine Castle"
1846 illustration from "Punch"
The Bulldog, devoted solely to the most barbarous and infamous purposes, the real blackguard of his species, has no claim upon utility, humanity, or common sense, and the total extinction of the breed is a desirable consummation.—
"BRITISH FIELD SPORTS," 1818.
The Bulldog. A Monograph, third edition, Edgar Farman